Eligible to Be Vice President

                The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:  “… no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”  This provision was necessary to defend and support the eligibility of the President.  It also gives Americans the right to have a replacement if something should happen to the President.

                W. Cleon Skousen explained, “It will be recalled that originally no one ran for Vice President.  All candidates had to qualify for the office of President.  The one who came in second was designated as Vice President.  Under the Twelfth Amendment, however, the Vice President is elected separately.  It was therefore important to specify that his required qualifications as a candidate for Vice President must be identical with those of the President, whose place he might someday be required to occupy.”  (See The Making of America – The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 717.)